World Radio puts over a thousand live stations on a spinning 3D Earth. Every glowing dot is a real station broadcasting right now. Tap one and the globe flies there, the flag, country and language appear, and the station starts playing.
Surprise me picks a random country, so the small ones get a turn too. Next nearby moves along to the closest station, which is a good way to hear a language change as you cross a border.
This is live radio. Stations with adult, gambling or explicit words in their name are left out, but nobody can check every song, phone-in or advert in advance. Listen for a few seconds with the volume low, then turn it up.
Is World Radio free?
Yes. It runs in a browser, there is nothing to install and it spends no tokens. You need a free Sage Teachers account to open the globe.
Is the radio safe to play to a class?
Stations with adult, gambling or explicit words in their name or tags are left out, but this is live radio and nobody can check every song or advert in advance. Listen for a few seconds before you turn it up for the class.
Why does a station sometimes not play?
Small stations go off air, especially at night where they are. If one is quiet for nine seconds World Radio moves on to the nearest station it has not tried yet, so you never sit in silence.
Does it work on an iPad or interactive whiteboard?
Yes. Drag to spin the Earth, pinch or scroll to zoom and tap a dot to listen. It works in Safari, Chrome and Edge.
If your class likes this, try View from Space for the Earth from orbit, Perfect Circle for a quick contest, and Lofi Beats for calm music while they work.
Written by a practising primary school teacher · station list from the open Radio Browser directory · Earth imagery NASA